Company computer networks typically allow company computer users to access non-company networks, while enforcing strict security measures to prevent unauthorized access to company information from such non-company networks. However, maintaining such security measures is becoming increasingly challenging due to the increasing appetite of company employees for emerging information resources available from public information providers.
One method for accessing public information resources involves employing instant messaging (IM) robots (BOTs) that act as virtual users for supplying information to employees who subscribe to receive information from such resources. An employee may subscribe to receive presence information from a BOT by adding the BOT to the employee's IM software contact list, and thereafter may open a chat session with the BOT to query the BOT for information such as stock prices, language translations, weather reports, etc. In doing so, the employee typically provides his/her network address to the BOT. Unfortunately, public BOTs are often configured to store the addresses of users that use BOTs, thereafter initiating unwanted chat sessions with the users. Furthermore, where companies employ a centralized collaboration server(s) that acts as a gateway between employees and public BOTs, the server maintains a separate subscription for each employee that is subscribed the same BOT, placing a significant load on the collaboration server(s).